Meet 99-year-old Rukmini Ammal who has never missed a poll since 1952

CHENNAI: Rukmini Ammal walked into a poll booth at Triplicane in Chennai with a confident stride early on Monday and stood along with fellow voters in the queue. Not many knew that she was 99 years old and she was exercising her franchise for the 15th time in assembly elections since 1952.

The woman, who has seen five generations in her family, has never missed an election and has always wanted her family members to follow the same.

The nonagenarian could barely hear. Her vision is sharp as she identified her party (Congress) symbol in no time on the electronic voting machine even though she didn’t know the candidate. “My mom barely remembers previous elections. She doesn’t even know the candidates contesting now,” said Rukmini’s youngest son Alagiri Rao.

“All that she makes sure is that the party she has been loyal to is contesting. We are happy as long as she fulfills her duty,” he said.